FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a flexible multiple LED module which can be installed, in particular, in a luminaire housing, as can be used for example in exterior luminaires of motor vehicles.
Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are increasingly being used in exterior and interior motor vehicle lighting systems, in particular for rear lights or brake lights, instead of the conventional incandescent lamps. LEDs have a longer service life as compared to incandescent lamps, better efficiency in the conversion of electrical energy into radiant energy in the visible spectral range, and, associated therewith, less emission of heat and overall a smaller space requirement. In construction, however, extra expenditure is necessary in the first instance, because, on account of the low luminance of a single LED compared with an incandescent lamp, it is necessary to construct a plurality of LEDs formed into an array.
A number of proposals have been disclosed heretofore for the realization of an LED array. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,282 describes an LED module in which a number of LEDs are fixedly mounted between two parallel, electrically conductive bars. That configuration is relatively efficient from a circuitry point of view, but is otherwise relatively inflexible for installation in a luminaire housing, i.e., a light assembly housing, since it cannot be adapted in a simple manner to curved housing forms (see FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,282).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,596 describes an LED module constructed from a metallic frame having rigid sections. LEDs are contact-connected between electrically conductive webs, and flexible sections, which are inserted between the rigid sections and are each constructed from a metallic, comb-like and bendable structure. Although that configuration yields the desired flexibility, by the same token it entails disadvantages. On the one hand, owing to the fact that the entire frame is produced from metal, the production of the flexible sections is excessively elaborate and difficult and, on the other hand, the circuit design in each case allows only the arrangement of one row of LEDs in a module section.